


The Finishing Touch

by Malind



Series: Beginnings [1]
Category: Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Angst, Lust, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:02:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23631310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malind/pseuds/Malind
Summary: Andrea brings Cloud backstage. Spoilers for Remake: Chapter 9.
Relationships: Andrea Rhodea/Cloud Strife
Series: Beginnings [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1703242
Comments: 9
Kudos: 169





	The Finishing Touch

**Author's Note:**

> This is verging on "Explicit" but I'm putting "Mature" so people don't get the wrong idea. No clothes come off.

Applause and cheers thundered throughout the spacious showhall. At least the spotlights were nearly blinding and the seating dark, both of which allowed Cloud a bit of reprieve from the boisterous crowd. The last thing he wanted was to be under the spotlight.

But he hadn't done this for himself. He'd done this for Tifa, admittedly reluctantly, but he’d have done a lot more for her. And she’d have done as much and more for him, he was sure. That knowledge was what had gotten him through this with a warmth in him he wasn’t really sure what to do with. But the warmth was there nonetheless, festering. It let him know he could be something more than he was, if he really wanted to be. He could be a friend to her, something that had seemed unnecessary, unwanted only days before.

Their bow taken, Andrea still didn’t let go of Cloud’s hand. Now, he was pulling on him, urging him to follow, saying, “Come with me.”

It was a grip Cloud could have easily broken from. While Andrea was overbearing and strong, the man was still just human. It was more Cloud’s disarmed mind that let him be pulled along.

Cloud didn’t know what more Andrea could possibly want from him. He had danced, thankfully with a natural rhythm and ability to follow someone’s lead and build on that until it was his own. It was what had made him a natural soldier. He’d done everything Andrea had wanted and with as much enthusiasm he could muster, which wasn’t much but enough to please the crowd apparently.

Hopefully he was being dragged along so that Andrea could give him his official stamp of approval in form of the letter. He needed that letter. It was the sole reason he’d gone along with this in the first place.

...Well, besides being dressed up as a woman. Thank God he hadn’t been expected to dance in the gaudy clothing. Yeah, he had a natural grace, but he was pretty sure the slippery, high-heeled shoes didn’t.

And yes, to get into his ensemble, he’d allowed them to strip him—onstage of all places; he didn’t even want to think about it—put a dress on him, smear makeup on his face, and even paint his nails pink. How was he supposed to get that crap off? And he’d allowed Andrea to swing him around like he was the woman Cloud was sure he looked like, given the crowd’s ooo-ing and ahh-ing.

No, he sure as hell wasn’t about to leave without that paper. Not after all that.

They left the room behind, leaving Aeris to stand and watch them leave. He turned his head to catch sight of her, to make sure she was all right. He saw her open mouth, her eyes full of wonder and then something that looked more like concern. The woman was always so worried about him and that put a warmth in him, too, quite against his will. But Cloud nonetheless jerked his glance away. The last thing he wanted was for anyone, even Aeris, to see him like this. Andrea’s previous purring but deeply voiced words hadn’t soothed his embarrassment in the least.

Beauty was in the heart and knew no gender? Seriously?

Whatever. Andrea could say anything he wanted, just as long as he handed over the letter.

Backstage, alone in a narrow hallway that led to numerous doors, finally the crowd began to grow distant. It was like there were cotton balls shoved in his ears. The room had been far too noisy. Surely, these performers were half-deaf by now.

Cloud found himself swung again, this time against a wall, his back to it. And then Andrea was over him. It felt like it, anyway. He looked up at Andrea, confused, yes, but not sensing physical danger. This was… something else entirely, a different kind of danger not found on a normal battlefield.

The confusion lasted only a second. Cloud wasn’t stupid. No, he’d never kissed a woman in his life. Nor a man. But he could see the hunger in this man’s eyes. He’d caught glances of it before, too, but had ignored it. Andrea’s wants and needs weren’t important to him. But now…

Now Andrea clearly wanted more from him than Cloud had previously accepted as unavoidable.

As such, Cloud’s breath caught. Because, unlike Jessie’s flirtations and Tifa’s and even Aeris’, this man made something stir in Cloud in a way he really didn’t want. He didn’t want it because it proved just how weak he really felt inside. No matter his stony exterior, he always felt so weak and confused outside of the certainty of battle and, well, the dance floor apparently. Human interactions had never come naturally to him, even in childhood. Especially in childhood. Okay, okay, now really wasn’t any better either. He hadn’t even known when to give a fucking high-five at the appropriate time before that day. He still wasn’t completely sure.

And then Andrea’s mouth was on his neck, kissing it, sucking it, forcing Cloud to suck in his breaths as his eyes clenched shut. It felt... God, he didn't know how it felt, but it felt like too much. He found his hands at the man’s coat and straps across his chest, grabbing at them. Andrea, in turn, snaked his arms around Cloud’s corseted waist, pulling him as tight as Andrea’s height would allow while still giving himself access.

“So, so beautiful,” Andrea whispered. The words chilled the wetness on Cloud’s skin, making it tingle.

“This isn’t—“

The words were instantly silenced when Andrea gripped Cloud’s hardness through the layers of fabric and stroked. In the words' place was a moan he couldn't contain. That hand, oh God, that hand, it made Cloud’s head tilt back until it hit the wall behind him. His hips thrust forward into it. His breaths became too loud to his own ears.

Cloud hated being orchestrated like this. He more hated that it was so easy for a man like this to make him feel this way, but he’d always had a problem with strong-willed, sure men. Especially one specific man who seemed hellbent on haunting his mind even during his waking hours. These men held a certainty Cloud wasn’t sure he could ever really possess. And they drew him, quite like a moth to a flame. Had they been cruel though, that would have instantly turned Cloud out the door. But he could tell Andrea wasn’t cruel, just, well, picky. And God only knew why he’d picked Cloud.

Andrea’s mouth worked up Cloud’s chin, burning it with his stubble whereas Cloud’s face was so smooth. His lips kissed Cloud’s bottom lip softly since Cloud’s mouth was open and panting. The kiss lasted just a brief moment while Andrea’s hand was unrelenting on Cloud’s cock, stroking it with abandonment, milking him. It was working. Cloud found his hips bucking to meet that fucking awesome grip.

“I hate to destroy his work,” Andrea said, his lips brushing against Cloud's chin as he spoke, as Cloud found it impossible to hold back his moans any longer. They echoed in the hallway, thankfully drowned out by the music in the showhall.

Andrea obviously wanted to kiss him, deeply, and Cloud wanted him to. But all that damned makeup that man had put on him… 

Fuck it. It wasn’t like it couldn’t be reapplied.

Cloud claimed the man’s mouth, sloppily, yes, but with a passion that had Andrea moaning and diving his tongue into his mouth. For a first kiss… His head felt fuzzy, unable to focus. His body felt on fire and on the verge of something life-altering, which was absurd, really. This certainly wasn’t the first time he'd had an orgasm, although before it'd always been done with his own hand an untold number of times. But it was certainly the first time it’d ever felt like this. So quickly, it’d felt like something he couldn’t stop, even if he’d wanted to. And he didn’t want to.

But he knew in the back of his mind that he just needed to end this quickly because, well, he really shouldn’t have been doing this in the first place, not with Tifa’s life on the line. And he was so fucking close, his hips bucking into that glorious hand, his moans pouring into Andrea’s relentless mouth. Had they both been naked, he was certain he'd have come already.

And then, when he wasn’t sure he’d ever come back down, Andrea sucked on his tongue, hard enough to shock him, and Cloud found himself coming inside the folds of his dress and petticoat and undergarments he had no idea what to call. The man’s mouth captured his groans. 

The hand stroked him as Cloud shuddered, squeezing out the last drops. The cloth under his dress felt sticky, gross. But it was difficult to care much as the euphoria placated him and left him limp in the man’s arms, a man who didn’t seem concerned at all that he hadn’t come himself. Then again, had he come? It seemed unlikely since Cloud had been selfish and hadn’t touched the man’s cock, hadn’t even thought to touch him. He’d been too caught up in himself to think straight. He’d never, ever done this with someone before.

Andrea finally released his mouth, giving him one last kiss on his jaw, before he said, “Let’s get you fixed up. And then we can talk about why you’re really here.”

Cloud looked up at the smiling man and nodded the best he could, still quite out of it. Andrea’s smile deepened, pink lipstick smudged on it, Cloud managed to note.

Andrea's hand brushed Cloud’s cheek. “So beautiful.”


End file.
